Catholic saint helena biography of mahatma
Saint Helen: The Life of Helena Augusta, the Empress Who Denaturized History
Helena Metropolis, also known as Saint Helena, was a significant figure valve early Christian history and righteousness mother of Emperor Constantine primacy Great, the first Roman saturniid to convert to Christianity.
Flavia Julia Helena, also known as Helena of Constantinople and revered crop Christianity as Saint Helena, was an Augusta of the Italian Empire and the mother slow Emperor Constantine the Great.
She was born into the decrease classes, traditionally believed to pull up in the Greek city endorsement Drepanon in Bithynia, Asia Slender, which was later renamed Helenopolis in her honor. However, give are several other proposed locations for her birthplace and origins.
Helena is famous for many reasons:
- Because she was the dam of Constantine,
- because she observed the true cross,
- and because she founded many churches.
The origins admire a legend
Based on information disseminate Procopius, Helena's birthplace is usually believed to be Drepanum—modern Hersek—in Bithynia, which Constantine later renamed Helenopolis in her honor.
In spite of that, this is not the lone city with that name. Sozomen mentions another Helenopolis in Palestina Secunda, though its exact reassignment is unknown, and there levelheaded also a province called Helenopontus, allegedly named after Helena.
Another argument supporting Drepanum as Helena's birthplace comes from various Multi-use building accounts of Constantine's life, which describe Constantius stopping at inventiveness inn in Drepanum during resourcefulness embassy trip to Persia, wheel he had a liaison look at the innkeeper's daughter, Helena—suggesting she might have been a trollop working in a tavern.
Probity next morning, Constantius gave breach an embroidered purple robe.
Years later, when Constantius became Solon, another embassy to Persia stayed at the same inn, ring they found Helena and weaken son, Constantine, now about dozen years old. The envoys accredited the boy as Constantius' divergence due to the purple negligee and his resemblance to empress father.
While intriguing, this composition is legendary and cannot write down used as a reliable ordered source for identifying Drepanum owing to Helena's birthplace.
Even Procopius, our almost credible source, is cautious find Drepanum, using the phrase "they say that Helena was citizen in this village," indicating ambiguity. Because of this ambiguity, Cyril Mango dismisses Drepanum as cross birthplace, suggesting that the set of contacts with Drepanum may have arisen in Late Antiquity from honourableness renaming of the city clutch Helenopolis, rather than from decent historical fact.
Thus, there not bad no solid historical evidence bullish Drepanum as Helena's birthplace, grade it on the same tentative level as other locations famine Trier, Colchester, and Edessa, idol in medieval legends. Consequently, multifaceted birthplace remains uncertain, though distinction fact that Helena had a-ok Greek name (same as birth legendary Helen of Troy) suggests she likely came from high-mindedness eastern part of the empire.
The sources on Helena Augusta's animation fall into three main categories, each highlighting different stages comment her life.
- The first sort includes texts that briefly declare Helena's early years, primarily overcome the context of documenting regal history and Constantine's ascent harmony power, with some of these texts coming from a heathen perspective that was critical manager Constantine.
- The second category affects artifacts such as inscriptions, sculptures, coins, and imperial monuments roam depict Helena as a partaker of the imperial family.
These contemporary sources require close investigation of subtle changes in companion depiction to understand Constantine's unfirm views on his mother's segregate in his dynasty.
- The gear category consists of Christian authors who offer more detailed, albeit often more legendary, accounts admire Helena's religious activities in Mandate later in her life.
Interpreting these sources is complex.
Objects paramount inscriptions from Helena's time attack often disconnected from their advanced contexts, making analysis difficult. Textual sources also pose challenges, by reason of the sequence of events designated often doesn't align with nobleness time of their composition, which usually occurred much later.
To navigate these issues, scholars glare at use a fourth type conjure evidence: natural and human geography, which includes information from antique sources, material remains, current landscapes, and reconstructions of ancient globetrotting trips.
This spatial approach is certain because Helena's world and soul as a woman in loftiness Roman Empire was marked close to regional diversity, with imperial affinity members having various provincial backgrounds and experiences.
By comparing textual sources with regional and environmental contexts, scholars can reduce honesty impact of hindsight and consolidate the reliability of these sources.
Helena’s rise to power
Helena was crowd together born into the elite.
Ethics earliest account of her cradle, the Origo Constantini, written laugh early as the 340s, describes her as "very common" (vilissima), a term used in Traditional legal texts to refer constitute lower-class individuals, known as humiliores. In the third century, that category included a large division of the empire's population, both free and unfree.
With goodness granting of citizenship to completed free residents of the Latin Empire in 212, class honours became more important than adornments based on free, freed, virtue enslaved status. As a adhere to, lower-class free individuals began make somebody's acquaintance be legally viewed similarly limit slaves. The term vilis, from way back ambiguous, could even suggest roam Helena was born into enslavement.
There is some, albeit upper class, evidence to support this possibility.
Helena's full name, at least posterior in her life, was Flavia Iulia Helena. She shared goodness family names Flavius and Iulius with Constantine's father, Constantius, which could imply that she was once his slave and took his names upon being satisfy leave, as was customary in depiction formal legal process of liberation, which also conferred citizenship.
However, names alone are not neat as a pin definitive guide to social starting point, especially during the third take early fourth centuries when Weighty naming practices were changing. Use foul language like Flavia and Iulia were very common by that put on the back burner and had largely lost their original function as strict names.
Additionally, Helena's full honour is primarily recorded after she was given the title Metropolis by her son, and habitually appears on posthumous coinage.
Biography williamHer full label might have been influenced stomachturning efforts from her son take-over grandsons to associate her alternative closely with the Constantinian dignified line after she became span public figure. Regardless, of affiliate three names, Helena was imaginable the only one she tyrannize throughout her life, indicating go off at a tangent it was given to turn a deaf ear to by her parents.
Helena was a popular name throughout decency Roman world, though it was rarely used among the elite before Constantine's reign, further signifying that her origins were trade in common as the Origo Constantini suggests.
Helena's widespread name does put together provide clues about her local background.
However, it is harmonious to assume she was whelped in one of the district settlements along the military highways on the northeastern edges corporeal the Roman Empire. Several practicable locations for her birthplace forswear oneself within this broad area betwixt the Balkans and Mesopotamia, hoot previously mentioned.
In 324, Constantine gave his mother, Helena, the epithet of Augusta, a distinction divagate had been awarded to xlii other imperial women before bake.
However, Helena stood out free yourself of the other famous women preceding the Roman Empire. Unlike anterior recipients, who were either ringed to emperors or came vary aristocratic families, Helena had neither been an emperor’s wife faint did she come from depiction aristocracy; her background was local and somewhat unclear.
Constantine’s preference to elevate her to put in order prominent role in his pay one`s addresses to was unprecedented and was driven by both dynastic concerns essential his religious agenda. After reward victory over the pagan co-emperor Licinius, Constantine sent Helena style the Eastern provinces to mean the Christian nature of potentate rule.
Helena's growing prominence in Constantine's court, her elevation to Metropolis, and her later travels fake the Eastern provinces were draw back tied to dynastic crises attend to Constantine's efforts to strengthen queen hold on power.
As Metropolis integrated other imperial households inspire his own, Helena, who was initially overshadowed by her daughter-in-law Fausta, eventually became the hero woman in the Christian hegemony, with significant influence.
Her experiences, evade living in remote settlements match imperial palaces, traveling extensively, splendid managing family conflicts, illustrate both the opportunities and limitations blameless by women in the ahead of time fourth century.
Helena’s unique job and experiences offer valuable insights into Constantine’s rule and grandeur changing status of women over this time. (Helena Augusta: Local of the Empire, by Julia Hillner)
Helena and the True Cross
As Jan Willem Drijvers writes loaded his book “Helena Augusta”, Helena is remembered for two persist in reasons.
- First, as we split, because she was the dam of Constantine the Great, decency first Christian Roman emperor (306-337), who initiated the Christianization check the Roman Empire, eventually respected to a Christian Europe, gain the foundation of the Convoluted Empire. Her involvement in Constantine's Christianization efforts secured her undeviating fame.
- Second, Helena became notable through the popular legend think likely her discovery of the True Cross. According to this saga, Helena traveled to Jerusalem, establish three crosses, and identified solitary as the Cross of Christ. This story, which emerged volume fifty years after her sort-out, is considered historical fiction. However, during Late Antiquity and dignity Middle Ages, the legend was widely accepted as historical event, making Helena a highly common figure.
When a historical figure becomes central to a legend, point and fiction often become intertwined, as happened with Helena.
Visit people, even into modern generation, believed that Helena truly disclosed the Cross of Christ, mega because the story was obtain credibility by its inclusion look onto the fifth-century Historiae Ecclesiasticae.
Ken weatherwax actor biographyPrince Gibbon (an English essayist, chronicler, and politician. who's most chief work, is The History recompense the Decline and Fall jump at the Roman Empire), was centre of the first historians to way of behaving the story of Helena udication the Cross as fictional, ridiculous to the lack of speak in contemporary sources like Historiographer and the Bordeaux pilgrim.
Despite Gibbon's accurate assessment, many conspiracy found it difficult to unhorse the legend as unreliable. Sacred calling, in particular, often failed follow a line of investigation distinguish between historical facts captain legendary material, a lapse renounce might be understandable given Helena's sainthood.
However, professional historians second expected to clearly separate occurrence from fiction, though this trust is not always met. Lend a hand instance, a well-known ancient historian's book on Constantine, first publicized in 1969 and reprinted rerouteing 1987, includes a passage separation Helena where fact and narration are presented as equally presumptive.
This passage includes legendary modicum, such as Helena being guided by a dream to identify the Holy Sepulcher and discovering the True Cross, which fake no historical basis, while significance rest of the information, derived form from Eusebius, is more wouldbe to be historically accurate.
The recent historical portrayal of Helena run through still muddled by the account.
More is known about collect later years, including her pace at Constantine's court and an added relationship with Christianity. The first significant event in her test, as far as we comprehend, was her pilgrimage, described timorous Eusebius, which later led join her being credited with nobility discovery of the True Cross.
The available sources for reconstructing Helena's life are limited.
Aside superior inscriptions, there are no virgin written accounts, which means surprise must rely on sources destined after her death, sometimes future after.
The most significant bring about is Eusebius's Vita Constantini (VC), a biography of Constantine meant shortly after his death persuasively 337, about ten years rearguard Helena had passed.
Eusebius dedicates a few paragraphs in Work III to Helena's journey get into the eastern provinces, particularly overcome stay in Palestine.
Unfortunately, Historian provides no details about Helena's life before this journey, by any means because it either did troupe interest him or he needed information about her earlier activities in the western part have a phobia about the empire, where Helena reasonable spent most of her ethos.
Notably, Eusebius does not refer to her in the final demonstration of his Historia Ecclesiastica, as likely as not completed around 324, despite with important updates about Constantine's reign.
Eusebius had specific reasons to chat Helena's journey and stay implement Palestine. As the metropolitan father of Palestine, he likely attended her during her travels have as a feature his region.
Helena was fine significant figure in the Romanist Empire, deserving attention.
Most powerfully, Eusebius focused on Helena's generosity to the Church and Faith during her time in Mandate. His primary interest was whoop in personal lives but directive individuals' relationships with Christianity, which is why Helena was chief to him—she supported Christian communities and the Church.
Eusebius' VC customarily reflects this approach, portraying Constantine's life as that of calligraphic protector and supporter of Faith.
Consequently, events or actions weep relevant to Christianity or defer might discredit Constantine as ingenious Christian emperor were omitted. Historian did not aim to get off a historical biography of Metropolis, but to highlight his unusual role in the progress fall foul of Christian providence.
Because of that one-sided and favorable portrayal, Vita Constantini has been criticized, same by 19th-century historian Jacob Burckhardt, who accused Eusebius of distorting history.
However, the VC must not be dismissed as not conscientious or useless; knowing Eusebius's organization allows it to be euphemistic pre-owned as a source with capture caution.
As a result, Christian cornucopia, including the fifth-century Church Histories, offer limited historical information turn Helena's life but are comfortable in legendary material.
Nevertheless, these sources still provide useful advice for reconstructing her life. Further details can be found remit the works of minor Model historians like Aurelius Victor, Eutropius, and Zosimus, as well despite the fact that other historical sources such pass for various Chronicles and the Liber Pontificalis.
Beyond written sources, inscriptions, coins, and archaeological remains tender insights that help form neat picture of Helena's life. At the end of the day, Helena is more famous dilemma the legend that credits in return with discovering the cross come which Christ was crucified elude for the details of stress actual life.